Is Elon Musk’s $1 million prize draw for registered GOP voters legal? This is what the experts say

Again, billionaire Elon Musk is in the news, but this time it’s not for rockets or electric cars. This time it’s because he gave $1 million to people who supported his latest election campaign. Musk’s plan, which is linked to an online petition that he says supports the US Constitution, gives away huge amounts of money to registered voters. This has caused a lot of legal questions.

It all began at an event in Pennsylvania, where Musk gave a guy named John Dreher a $1 million check as a surprise. Since Dreher signed Musk’s letter, it looks like that was enough to get him a seven-figure payment. Musk, who’s never afraid of adding drama to a situation, said, “John had no idea.” “Anyway, thanks,” he said as he gave her the money.

Is Elon Musk’s $1 million political giveaway legal?

While Dreher may be happy about his windfall, people who work in election law are a little less sure. It is very clear from federal law that giving money to someone to register to vote or to vote is illegal and can get you up to five years in prison. That being said, the question is whether Musk’s $1 million giveaway goes too far.

An election law professor at Notre Dame named Derek Muller told CNN that the offer “looks like you’re giving cash for voter registration,” which could be very illegal. Muller said that even though most states make it illegal to pay to vote, giving cash to registered voters could still be seen as bribery, based on how the law is interpreted.

Musk started the America PAC to back Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2024, and it is already working to register voters in key swing states. And this cash incentive, which isn’t Musk’s first try, seems to be pushing that goal even further, especially in Pennsylvania where the deadline to register is coming up quickly.

Muller said that even though cases of election bribes aren’t often brought to justice, this is the kind of thing that could make the federal government worried. Plus, some experts are going even further and saying that Musk’s plan is completely illegal.

David Becker, who used to work for the Justice Department and worked on voting rights issues, didn’t hold back when he spoke out. “This isn’t a very close case—this is exactly what the law was meant to make illegal,” Becker said.

He said that the fact that Musk is only targeting registered voters in “swing states” is clear proof that he wants to change the result of the election. Others have pointed to the Justice Department’s manual on election crimes, which directly warns against “lottery chances” that are meant to change who registers to vote.

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At this point, we don’t know if Musk is in trouble for this, and since the election is coming up soon, a Trump win may be enough to make sure it doesn’t matter afterward. Either way, this action shows that a lot of Republicans are desperate and feel like they need to spend a lot of money to win over people instead of trusting their policies and leader.

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